I was a vendor at two different Christmas art fairs the past two weekends. And, I have to say, I exceeded my expectations about how much I would sell at both. The big sales were few, but I was right to think I’d sell a bunch of the small stuff. Card holders were the biggest seller at both events. I was suggesting them for gift cards, credit cards and ID, in addition to the traditional business card holder. I was surprised by a couple of people who bought them: one specifically wanted “the most traditional Christmas looking” one to hold his business cards, so he would feel the spirit during the season; another wanted a nice wintery one to hold her loyalty cards for all the stores she shops at. Okay then, more ways for me to promote them!

The biggest seller I had last year, the wrist warmers, barely sold. I was ready for the kind of sales I had last year, and had a BUNCH of them made and ready to go, and sold… 4 pairs total between the two events. Here’s where I take pause, and wonder if the really warm weather lately affected sales this year (I mean, it WAS almost 70 yesterday!), or if they just aren’t as sellable as they were before. One person who bought a pair exclaimed, “these are perfect texting gloves!” Okay, another way to promote them! So I’ll hold on to them and try again next year and see how it goes.

Ornaments were big at the first event, but not at the second. I had three different kinds – pinwheels, quilted, and folded fabric – and all three had fans. Some of the people who had purchased ornaments at the first one also attended the second, so I can’t expect them to buy ornaments again. But there is a market for them and I have to make sure I have plenty available for next year’s events. Maybe I’ll even add another variety to the mix.

Some of the things I sold at the first event were things I had made a while ago as a sample project and just wanted to get rid of them. Which tells me it’s always a good thing to bring those along, you never know what will appeal to people!

But then there were the people who would be looking at a particular item, a lot, and then put it down saying, “you know, I’d totally buy that if it just…” Had cats on it, was purple, was smaller, was bigger, had a zipper, had a key ring loop on it, included a velcro tab, was cheaper, etc. I’m sure every crafter/vendor has heard a variety of these comments. And every crafter/vendor has had to decide how seriously to take the comments. Sometimes the comment is a common sense thing, and I agree with the person and say I’ll work on it for next year. Other times, I politely thank them. It might not be something I can do (I don’t think I charge enough for some of my items as it is; the balance between what something is worth in your time and what you can sell it for is a difficult one for anyone who makes and sells things). It might not be something I want to do (I’m not making a lot of things or money, here, so is it worth my time to do for only a possible sale?).

The ideas I liked, I wrote down on the notepad where I was also recording sales. This way I can keep track of the other things I want to do. For instance, it was made really clear to me that the people attending the second event were majorly into domestic animals: the question “do you have this with cats (or dogs)?” was frequently asked. One person assumed the proceeds from the vendors all went to one of the local pet shelters. (No.) So I’m already buying more cat and dog fabric for next year at that event.

Other ideas? Not so much. I’ll just continue to politely thank them for the idea. And I’ll continue to try to learn more from each vending experience I have, because I never know which idea will be valuable in the future!

Sometimes a piece of fabric just sits around for a long time, waiting to be used and loved. Some fabrics sit around longer than others! In this case, I had some fabric that had been purchased almost 40 years ago. It wasn’t in my possession that entire time, just the last year or so. But it kept staring back at me, crying to be used. I knew where it had originated, but not its entire journey to me. Here’s what I know now after talking to my mom about it.

Fabric from my mom. It seems to have been something before, as there are seams for me to undo.

The fabric was originally purchased by my grandparents when I was 6 or so, when they were visiting Tahiti (and returned to Wisconsin to find an ice storm had caused a lot of damage to their property). It’s a very tightly woven cotton, rather like the current batik fabrics in the quilt stores. The dye doesn’t go through quite as completely as current batiks do, so I’m not sure it is a true batik but it is similar. They had also purchased some white fabric with large red flowers on it and my mom made a dress for me out of it. That dress was given new life when, a few years ago, I gave it to one of my husband’s coworkers, and his little girls loved it.

This fabric did not get quite as much love. It was used (possibly by my brother) in a home ec class in middle school to make “jams”. Remember those? Long, baggy shorts that were all the rage once upon a time? This fabric looks like, once the jams were made, they were never worn. He probably used the fabric for the class because that is what my mom had on hand, and then put them away once they were finished. I’m just guessing here.

Pieces of fabric picked apart with a seam ripper. Due to some earlier deconstruction it had little resemblance to its “jams” prior life.

My mom recently told me she had used the fabric in the jams to make a travel pillow for my sister. This explains why, by the time I got the fabric, the disassembly had already started and I couldn’t figure out how it could have been an outfit. I could identify one side pocket, and that was about it.

But good cotton is good cotton, and I thought I could come up with something. So I left it on top of the scrap bin, hoping some kind of inspiration would strike at some point. It watched as I grabbed the Christmas fabrics to make ornaments. It watched as I grabbed a pretty green and blue batik to make a wallet. It watched as I grabbed strips of this or that to make scrappy things.

And then I decided how I would use it. I have lots of black Kona on hand, and some larger scraps were left over from other projects. So I started trimming the brown and black fabric into somewhat rectangular shapes to see what sizes I could get from it. I started with the smallest pieces first and worked my way through the larger ones. Very little measuring was done, it was more like “what will fit together” using the two different fabrics. Using leftover binding from another project, I even had enough for side borders. This thing obviously wanted to be a tote bag!

One section done, with larger pieces waiting their turn.

Tackling the larger pieces next, I decided to have different patterns on each side of the bag. Still using only scraps of the black and the Tahitian fabric, I ended up with this for the other side:

Second side, pinned and ready to be machine quilted.

The long strips allowed me to use the bigger pieces with less waste. But wait, I still have some left! Pockets it is.

Inside lining with two pockets ready to sew on, and the outer part of the tote bag quilted and assembled (inside out to show the machine quilting).

The lining fabric is something from my stash that I bought years ago. I have a lot of it, but not sure why I bought it. Amazingly enough, the color almost matches the brown in the Tahitian fabric. What are the odds I’d have that shade??

And now the tote bag is complete. I still have a few scraps of the Tahitian fabric left, tiny things that might just be enough for a wallet or something like that. But at this point, I’ve used enough of the fabric that I feel it finally has a good purpose, and I’ll be listing this bag on my Etsy store for sale (https://www.etsy.com/shop/ExtraShotofQuilt).

One of the interesting side effects of deciding to make things to sell: my fabric stash has grown much more than it has shrunk! At least so far. I guess my stash was pretty boring, relatively speaking, because people tend to say things like, “Oh, that’s pretty, do you have that in orange?” (Or bright pink, or some other bright color.) My sewing student tends to go for the brighter colors, too. Which means that I have to buy more fabric. Hmm. I guess, at some point, I’ll have enough brighter fabrics on hand that I won’t have to make a run to the fabric store just to finish a request.

Some of the fabrics I picked up once I started making things to sell. The cherry blossom-like fabric has already been claimed by my sewing student for her small quilted purse, our next project.

I’ve also found myself picking up more large-print patterns, too, including large florals. Those would have been anathema to me before I started this process of spreading out.

Which all reinforces my original thought that trying to make things to sell would force me to open my mind, spread my wings, and be a bit more daring than I had been in the past.

We are in the middle of NaNoWriMo, and a couple of thoughts suddenly came to convergence in my head. So, I thought I’d share them here.

NaNoWriMo has its supporters and critics. I guess you could count me as a supporter, because I don’t see why anyone shouldn’t try writing a novel and NaNo is a great time to give it a try. There are support functions, writing groups all over the net, forums for fanfic, etc. Yes, as the critics love to shout about, a lot of really bad writing is done during NaNo. It happens. But as a creative event involving thousands of people, I bet some pretty great writing is being done, too.

This month of writing intersected with my thoughts about the different types of quilters out there, with discussions about what a quilt is worth, what is a reasonable price for quality fabrics and thread to use in our projects, and what’s the best and most sustainable way to quilt. And my thought process kind of ran along from there. There are a lot of craft people out there, a lot of people who practice various arts, and a lot of various skill levels in every single one of them. And it suddenly hit me: why does it seem like the self published novelist tends to be looked down on more so than, say, a quilter who sells bed quilts on Etsy or a potter who sells at craft fairs? Is there something more intrinsically difficult about writing a good novel than there is in sewing a well-constructed and beautiful quilt? I don’t think so. Each benefits from years of practice, but every once in a while a beginner can hit on something spectacular. Many people probably believe they could write a really good novel if they tried, but most of these people won’t because while writing looks easy, it can be incredibly hard.

(Note: I’ve tried writing fiction, I really have. My husband will point out one scene I wrote long ago that was really good. But while that scene was very well-written, and evoked a vivid image of the situation, it had nowhere to go and I was unable to come up with a good way to use it. I maintain that I am NOT a writer. I make a pretty decent proofreader and sometimes editor, though!)

So let me use the quilting world as analogy. There are those who make quilts just to give away; those who make simple or complex, large or small quilts to sell; and those who make quilts to enter competitions. In the same manner, there are those who write to share with their friends and family, or simply to see if they can do it; those who write books to sell, either via a traditional publisher or on their own as an indie publisher; and those who write “serious” literature that gets entered into the various literary contests around the world.

Why are those who write just to write looked down on more than those who quilt just to quilt? NaNo-ers are just trying to express their creative sides. Let’s give them as much support as we can. Some of them might move on to the other levels of writing, and in the future you could see a finished and wonderful novel from them that you would love to read.